Submitted by
All_Mountain
a Cross Country Rider
from Kingsport, Tn
Date Reviewed: September 25, 2011
Strengths: I've put well over a 1000 miles on the rims and never had a single problem. While I mostly ride single track with these rims. I've also ridden plenty of rock gardens and endo'd with these too. I have no complaints about the X223s. I've ridden these with less than minimum recommended air pressure (30lbs) for steep climbs and descended some bony tracks and never once knocked them out of round. I read the reviews here on MTBR when I bought the bike and thought I’ve give them a shot before replacing them. It’s been seven years now and they’re still going. If that’s not dependable, I don’t know what is!
Weaknesses: None that I've found unless you consider the weight.
Bottom Line:
If I knew then what I know now, I'd have bought a second set for and additional set of tires.
Similar Products Used: Mavic CrossMax Eduros, AlexRims DS20s
Bike Setup: Cannondale F800 SL, Ritchey post and stem, Cannodale Fire and Omega hubs.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Maxfrm
a Cross Country Rider
from Sacramento, CA, USA
Date Reviewed: August 25, 2010
Strengths: Can take a pounding, No issues
Weaknesses: none
Bottom Line:
I have read the many reviews talking about how heavy riders should stay away & seeing the complaints on these rims failing riders. I got this set on the bike brand new from the LBS 7 years ago & they are still hauling my now 210 lbs Duff still to this very day. I was 247lbs before at 5'6" maybe 5'7" with shoes on. I have beat these on many trails I couldnt tell you how many thousands of miles are still on the stock rims with shimano hubs with orignal spokes. I do take the bike in & have it tuned once a year. Maybe I am the exception but I havent been light on this set. I have taken over 2' drops easily. I have hit curbs & have hit many rocks with no worries. I blew out the orignal Manitou Super Axle fork mutiple times that came with this bike, but not these wheels. It is sad to see the complaints on such a tough pair of rims. I wonder what the other riders are doing to destory these? Maybe if you throw your bike off a house & hit a square rock straight on.
Bike Setup: '03 Stumpjumper FSR Disc, '10 Fox F100 RLC, Fox Float RL, Shimano Hubs M-475L Disc 32hole sealed loose ball bearings alloy Q/R, Mavic X223
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
urmb
a Cross Country Rider
from MTB land
Date Reviewed: May 6, 2010
Strengths: Great rim. Strong, nice weight, easy build. I have built 8 wheels with this rim and have had no problems. I ride +2000 MTB miles/year with at least one trip to Moab/year. Recently conquered Rock Stacker and Jacksons(look up Jacksons on Youtube) in Moab with front and rear 223 hoops.
Weaknesses: None so far for me. Getting hard to find.
Similar Products Used: Araya, Sun, Campy, Ritchey, Syncros, Bontrager, WTB, Other Mavics,
Bike Setup: Which one?
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Nitrometal
a Weekend Warrior
from Lanham, MD USA
Date Reviewed: April 18, 2010
Strengths: Really solid rim! never felt too heavy.
Weaknesses: None really.
Bottom Line:
I gave these rims NO LOVE for the 6 years i've had the bike. Rode them hard and never once trued them. After many many hard miles they're definitely looking a little wiggley but i'm running disc brakes so the wiggles don't affect the breaking at all. Never became weak due to their out-of-true state and still take quite a beating! I wound up retiring them along with the bike but the Alex rims on my new bike are certainly making me miss those old hoops! Excellent value since they came with the bike. Excellent over-all because worrying about them/fixing them never took time away from riding on them!
Bike Setup: 2004 Kona Kula Deluxe all stock except tires and Shimano Saint crankset/some chain i can't remember.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Dalton B.
a Weekend Warrior
from Sarasota Fl.
Date Reviewed: January 14, 2010
Strengths: Light, thin, Strong, faaasssssttttt, super great for XC and all mountain, never ever ever tacoed.
Weaknesses: They may not be the prettiest rims, and I sometimes find them a little wobbly for freeride. Few flat spots from pinch flats on some hard hits on pavement.
Bottom Line:
They might not be freeride rims, but next to some of the horror stories I've heard these are dream rims. Mine have a few flat spots, some of them just appeared on the front wheel while wheels were off my bike(carelessness in the shed), the rest of them were from some pretty nasty bouts with concrete sidewalk curb. NEVER TACOED! In Fl, we don't have the awesome shredding you Colorodo or Whistler guys do, but rims will take a beating wherever you are depending on how you ride These rims are 5 years old now, and they've seen some pretty big hits for XC rims. Bottom Line: If your actually gonna buy 5 yr old rims for XC or AM, these make great, lightweight rims.
Similar Products Used: WTB speeddisc, WTB laserdisc, other junk on starter bikes
Bike Setup: '05 Giant VT-2 Mostly stock with the exception of new 2.35" Maxxis Ignitors, and a Marz AM-3
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
pokz
a Weekend Warrior
from manila,phil
Date Reviewed: June 24, 2009
Strengths: price, strong, light
Weaknesses: none so far
Bottom Line:
it works for my use...trail and road. bang for the buck.
not as light like expensive brand, but still very tough and light for xc/am use.since i have this, they still working fine without truing!
no regrets....plan to upgrade my spokes and nipples.
Submitted by
fuentes_88
a Weekend Warrior
from Monterrey, NL, Mexico
Date Reviewed: March 22, 2009
Strengths: Bought this wheel about 4 years ago but I'm going to write a review since I think it deserves it. Today the rear wheel punctured on the beggining of the second lap of a race and since I had ran out of spares I decided to duke out the last lap with no air whatsoever on the rear wheel, all 10 KM of it. Of course I ended up in last place but when I checked the rim for damage there was non whatsoever. Maybe it was the lack of big rocks on the course but it is still impressive.
Weaknesses: A bit on the heavy side?
Bottom Line:
True It Once a year and forget about it. Will not fail before you do.
Bike Setup: Full Deore XT, rst air fork, Mercedes car.ry frame. Propietary components
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Daniel Johnson
a Cross Country Rider
from Richardson, TX, USA
Date Reviewed: April 8, 2008
Strengths: Light. Front wheel seems to hold up well.
Weaknesses: Rear wheel spokes loosen after every ride. I have had the rear wheel in the bike shop 5 times for the exact same thing. There is never any difference.
Bottom Line:
I commute A LOT on this bike on some serious city streets. The rear wheel has taken a pretty severe beating in the 500 miles I have put on it. And the spokes wont stay tight. I am going with something else.
The 223's are very reliable and gives you best bang for your buck. I've been using it for almost 3 years already and never failed me since. Although it is no longer highlighted in the Mavic website, it is a very reliable entry-mid level rim.
Submitted by
Ldopa
a Cross Country Rider
from Norman, OK
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2006
Strengths: Suprisingly decent rim for the money. Has held up to very moderate though consistent riding.
Weaknesses: none found (at least for non aggressive riding)
Bottom Line:
I recommend this highly for though hesitant of dropping a wad on some higher priced hoops. Bought these laced with Wheelsmith spokes and XT hubs for @ $150 as a last minute emergency purchase, and intended for them to be temps for a trip I went on. Well needless to say I soon forgot about the wheelset I originaly intended for my bike, I guess that gives these a gold star. I suppose these aren't super hoops but if you don't notice them then they're doing their job.
Bike Setup: Fuel 90 spec'd out with all the typical goodies(Fox RLT, Easton carbon, XTR rear, XT drive, Juicy 7's
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Ldopa
a Cross Country Rider
from Norman, OK
Date Reviewed: May 2, 2006
Strengths: Suprisingly decent rim for the money. Has held up to very moderate though consistent riding.
Weaknesses: none found (at least for non aggressive riding)
Bottom Line:
I recommend this highly for though hesitant of dropping a wad on some higher priced hoops. Bought these laced with Wheelsmith spokes and XT hubs for @ $150 as a last minute emergency purchase, and intended for them to be temps for a trip I went on. Well needless to say I soon forgot about the wheelset I originaly intended for my bike, I guess that gives these a gold star. I suppose these aren't super hoops but if you don't notice them then they're doing their job.
Bike Setup: Fuel 90 spec'd out with all the typical goodies(Fox RLT, Easton carbon, XTR rear, XT drive, Juicy 7's
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Hito
a Weekend Warrior
from Ann Arbor
Date Reviewed: September 5, 2005
Strengths: Strong rim for XC. (Not meant for 200+lb, jump off cliff riders.)
Weaknesses: None really.
Bottom Line:
This is a followup review. After about 30 miles of agressive XC, I had to true it. The wheel exhibited wobble in the front and hop in the rear. I had it trued by a professional at a bike shop. Now I got over 100miles on the bike. The wheel still spins straight and round like an super expensive custom made rim.
I think the X317 which comes on other bikes is tad lighter, but the X223 sure is stronger.
Submitted by
Ko Saynourath
a Weekend Warrior
from Wheat Ridge, CO USA
Date Reviewed: July 28, 2005
Strengths: Tough as nails, four seasons and still perfecty true.
Weaknesses: weight, maybe? I don't know how much these weigh but they're probably not XC light.
Bottom Line:
These came on an Epic I bought used on ebay with a season of riding on them already. I have since sold the Epic and kept the rims on my Giant VT. These have been used for four seasons total and they have been only trued once while the Shimano hubs they are laced to are shot to hell. Keep having to tighten the hubs after every few rides.. I'm only 150 lbs which isn't much, but I ride agressively with some drops on some technical trails on Denver's front range in the Rocky Mountains. If you've ever ridden trails here, you know how abusive the terrain is on bikes. These are the only rims I've ever owned and I see no need to buy rims that cost hundreds more when these have never given me any problems. You should buy these rims because they're affordable and will last you. Don't buy these if you're the type of rider who needs to spend hundreds of dollars on "nicer" rims just for the sake of having more expensive rims.
Submitted by
Hito
a Weekend Warrior
from Ann Arbor, MI
Date Reviewed: July 25, 2005
Strengths: Strong and durable enough for light riders. It is also light enough for XC use. Now please do not be an ignorant fool and compare this to the super expensive crossmax. Those rims are not the same as this one.
Weaknesses: May not be strong enough for 200+ pound riders, but I don't know.
Bottom Line:
I weigh around 150lb, and I ride agressively. I had to true it once as it exhibited minor wobble after couple of months of riding, but even those expensive CROSSMAX wheels would need truing after a while.
Do buy this rim if:
1. You weigh under 200 pounds and do fast agressive XC trails and not jump off stuff constantly. (I do perform minor jumps and rockhopping on the trail but I always try to land with less impact.)
Don't buy this rim if:
1. You are a fat dude with 200+ pounds and do fast agressive XC and jump off obstacles constantly.
By reading some of the below reviews, I have to either think of these possibilities.
1. Bad reviewers just happened to get the bad quality ones. 2. They are just stupid and did insane jumps and D/H. 3. They weigh 200+ pounds.
So there you have it. It has been working awesome for me. I talked to a bike shop dude about upgrading these, but he looked at me saying, "This is a pretty good rim. Why do you want to ditch it?" and I felt like a fool.
What's the stock shock length of the 222/223?
And has anyone measured the travel of the 222/223 when a shorter shock is fitted?
Hopefully I can get a used frame, get a newer Read More »
I've been told of a dyno brake test done by MBUK that compares the power of most of the markets brakes. From googling I'm told it was the 'super brake test' in issue no# 223. Altho Read More »
[url]http://forums.mtbr.com/california-socal/stolen-bike-alert-758937.html#post8855557[/url]
IF SOMEONE TRIES TO SELL YOU A YETI 575 ANNIVERSARY EDITION, NUMBER 223 OF 250, IT I Read More »
